Confirmation and Senior Sunday

Robert E. Hall
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

May 20, 2007

Text: Galatians 5:1-5, Matthew 11:28-30

Sundays such as this, when we celebrate the transitions our young are making, can be occasions for each of us to remember and thank our God.

We can remember our baptisms, when God’s Spirit was poured into our hearts; and remember our professions of faith, when we stood before some congregation somewhere and, with heart in our throats, made those improbable promises: “I renounce, I accept, I believe, I commit….”

Or, we can remember those occasions when we were troubled, fearful----and the God we had leaned on and trusted in all these years was indeed faithful. We remember that God’s steadfast love really does endure forever. We remember those occasions when God helped us endure when we were lost and bewildered.

And on such Sundays as this, we also look forward to what God may make of us; we place our hand in the hand of God and step forward, trusting one day at a time, that we are loved and that nothing can separate us. This is true for us whether we are 12 or 18 or 68 years old.

So today I will be sharing some counsel to our confirmands and graduates based on this basic interlocking affirmation: that God offers us peace within; and God guides our paths. It may help all of us to hear the basics again.

1. Hold on the God who holds you in his arms. “Lean on the everlasting arms…..”

You are saved by the grace of God. God has been with you since the time you were born.  Jesus Christ is God’s living Word; and in his life, death and resurrection, God has made himself accessible to you. You are precious in God’s sight.

 The late Mr. Rogers of the children’s TV show, said it this way: “In this life, evil is the accuser and Christ is the advocate. Evil wants us to look at ourselves and others with accusing eyes and hearts, while Christ encourages us to look at ourselves and others with eyes and hearts of love.” (From an article by William F. Orr, in the Christian Century, April 13, 1994)

To be sure, we don’t always live up to God’s love of us, and we are always in need of forgiveness (as the Lord’s Prayer says). But do not ever get the idea that God has given up on you,  that God is not with you and for you. “The steadfast love of the Lord endures forever.” God loves you as you are and will guide you to become the person he wants you to be.

2. Spend your life learning what it means to trust in God, to believe in the Triune God.

“Deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.” We believe, then we try to understand in greater depth and breadth what it is we believe. This is known as faith seeking understanding. (We usually think we have to understand things thoroughly before we believe. It is different with faith in God.)

3. Let your life be shaped by the teachings and example of Jesus.

 “Take my yoke upon you…: Jesus says. As any apprentice or intern, we read, watch, listen, practice what the teacher shows us. To learn from Jesus is to build your life on rock instead of sand. And it’s not just information but wisdom you will be learning, wisdom about the true “good life.”

 4. Stay connected to the body of Christ.

 You are connected, baptized into the one body, a member with gifts to share. Your life is indelibly marked with the love of God which has been poured into your hearts.

Curtis Mitchell was one of my mentors as I was growing up in Palo Pinto. I visited with him recently; I had not seen him in at least 30 years. As we visited, I realized that the connection between us was still very much real. Across time and space, we are a part of the one body of Christ. Such will be the case for you, confirmands and graduates. This connection with those who love you in this church will last a lifetime. From your side, stay connected.

5. Strive and dedicate your life, to help God with God’s vision of a heavenly earth.

Money?  Beauty?  Power?  Important in their realms. But we are made for the worship and service of God. Give yourselves to relieving needless human suffering; to telling people that they are loved by the God of Jesus Christ; that there is life to be found in him. What is your piece of God’s vision? How can you serve in your associations and vocations? Cooperate with God in making the world more peaceful, more just, more humane, more habitable.

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have a path to follow and a Savior to learn from. We have a mission: to add our lives to God’s work of bringing peace and justice and mercy on the earth.

In all of our lives, “we are called to live at the overlap both of heaven and earth….We are caught on a small island near the point where the tectonic plates---heaven and earth, future and present---are scrunching themselves together. Be ready for earthquakes.” (Simply Christian by N.T. Wright)

We will be called to sacrifice and even suffer for our Lord. But the struggles that we go through, in Paul’s words from Romans ring true: We find that such trials lead us to “passionate patience, the tempered steel of virtue and alert expectancy.” (From The Message a version of the Bible)

Here is the best news: with the gift of grace through faith, we also receive the Giver. God himself is with us, or as Paul says in his letters, we life “in Christ.” So, “throw open your doors to God.” You will discover that God has “already thrown open his door to [you].” (The Message)